Heartland Advisors, an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for the “Heartland Value Plus Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Improving market breadth was noted in the first quarter, with the Russell 2000® Index rising by 0.89%, while the S&P 500 Index declined by 4.33%. However, the onset of military conflict in Iran has negatively impacted both the broad market and small-cap companies since late February. Historical trends suggest that reactions to such short-term geopolitical events should be tempered, emphasizing the importance of focusing on long-term market drivers, offering optimism. Against this backdrop, the strategy appreciated 4.95% in the first quarter, compared with the 4.96% gain for the Russell 2000® Value Index. The first quarter was challenging for artificial intelligence stocks, while it proved to be strong for small-cap tech stocks. In addition, you can check the Fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Heartland Value Plus Fund highlighted stocks like Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF). Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) is a financial services holding company that provides retail and institutional wealth management, and investment banking services. On April 15, 2026, Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) closed at $81.85 per share. One-month return of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) was 16.41%, and its shares gained 44.22% over the past 52 weeks. Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion.
Heartland Value Plus Fund stated the following regarding Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“One of the biggest detractors to our strategy’s performance in the quarter was Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF), which provides brokerage, investment banking, investment advisory, and related financial services.
Shares of the global wealth manager began selling off in early February as the market expressed concerns around AI’s ability to disrupt their business. Then, the spike in interest rates, driven by concerns about higher inflation and oil prices, further weighed on the stock as the market sold off in March, impacting total client assets and investment banking prospects during a period of potentially “higher for longer” rates..” (Click here to see the full text)
Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 49 hedge fund portfolios held Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 42 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
